Stop being angry, learn from your investing mistake, never repeat it!

I received a comment from a reader on the HDFC Crest article that I wrote recently. He was very angry with HDFC Life with what he thought was an investing mistake. He used some pretty strong language. I can understand the anger. Yet, I do not approve of the comment on Capital Orbit. I wrote him an email today. I have reproduced it in this article.

Investing mistakes

My biggest request to all Capital Orbit readers is to remember that you are responsible for your investing decisions.

Sometimes (or rather, in many cases), the investing world in India is a dog-eat-dog world

The principle “Caveat emptor” or “Let the buyer beware” can never go out of fashion.

If you don’t know what you are getting into, please ask someone who knows.

Start reading more. There is a tremendous amount of free information in the Internet age. Use it!

If you have expertise, please help others who do not know as much as you do. I feel truly sad to see so many people repeat avoidable mistakes.

And yes, stop being angry, learn from your investing mistake and never repeat it.

My email to our fellow-investor

This is what I wrote to him.

Hi <name withheld by me>,

I can understand your anger when when you talk about HDFC Crest. But I do have a problem with anyone using foul language on Capital Orbit. As long as decent language is used, I have no problem with anyone. That is my only request.

I urge you to look at the other side of things. There have been funny cases in India of people filing cases against Facebook and Google for example for allowing content that someone feels is “harmful” in different contexts. Foul language possibly exposes me to problems. A company can reach me and ask why I am entertaining foul language with respect to their products. Maybe, maybe not. I am not a lawyer and it might sound far-fetched but picking a fight with a corporation is not something that excites me.

It is OK to fight with facts. In fact, it is the need of the hour for all retail investors in India. I again reiterate that I feel for you. I also am glad to see that you write that,

“I really did a biggest mistake investing without much analysis. Please do proper investigation before you invest anywhere. I will be happy if this review has helped some people who really care for their hard earned money..”

I have made investing mistakes in the past too. I am better off today with the learning. I take efforts not to repeat them.

I will be sharing this with other Capital Orbit readers. Let us collectively help each other avoid mistakes. Thanks!

Regards,
Kunal Pawaskar
Founder, Capital Orbit
www.caporbit.com

Your comments

I really would like to hear from you. You might have made mistakes that you want to share, so that others do not repeat them. There’s no harm in opening up. All of us have a private collection, I am sure! You will surely have favourite books or great articles that assisted you in your investing journey.